Listen: Bidding Variables for HouseCleaning Estimates

Watch: Bidding Variables for House Cleaning Estimates

Hey there, I’m Angela Brown, and this is Ask a House Cleaner. This is a show where you get to ask a house cleaning question, and I get to help you find an answer.

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Question: Bidding Variables for House Cleaning Estimates

All right, on to today’s question, which is about bidding variables. Now, this is not from a particular customer or a question from a house cleaner.

This is from lots of people who ask me every day, “How much does it cost for house cleaning?”

And then the house cleaners that say, “How much should I charge for house cleaning?”

Answer: Bidding Variables for House Cleaning Estimates

Which brings us down to bidding variables. There are bidding variables that will determine the price of your house.

1. Bidding Variables – Pets

So, for example, if you have a lot of pets, versus no pets, your house is going to cost more money.

And then what kind of pets?

If you have four big dogs that shed hair, it’s going to cost more money than if you have a hamster that’s inside a cage.

2. Bidding Variables – Bathrooms

How many bathrooms do you have in your house? And how many do you use on a regular basis?

So, let’s say you have five bathrooms in your house. And let’s say that you only use one all the time, and another one some of the time.

That’s going to be a little bit different price than if you use all five of them all the time.

3. Bidding Variables – Number of People

How many people live in your house?

If you have one business professional that’s never at home, it is going to cost different to clean.

This is because it has different needs than a house, for example, with say, eight people who live there.

4. Bidding Variables – Frequency

How often do you want your house cleaned? Do you want your house cleaned monthly, weekly, or biweekly?

Here’s a secret for homeowners. If you have the house cleaner come on a weekly or a bi-weekly basis, it’s going to cost you less money than monthly or less. This is because you then have buildup.

Less Frequent = Deep Clean = More Expensive

Buildup stuff in every room. There will be dust everywhere. And it’s almost like a whole house, top to bottom cleaning, as a deep clean, every single month.

That will cost you more money than if you just have them come every week, or biweekly, and maintain your space.

So you might think you’re saving money by having them only come once a month, but you’re not. It’s actually less money if you have them come on a regular basis, and maintain the work that they’ve done.

The Price is Dependent on theBidding Variables

So, the bidding variables will determine the price of a house cleaning.

So don’t get upset if the price is more expensive than what your neighbors are paying.

House Cleaners – This Is for You

If you go inside someone else’s house to give them a bidding estimate, do not say the following. “Well, this house is 3,700 square feet. So I’m going to give you the same price that I charge this other family at a 3,700-square foot house.”

The reason is that people live in different ways. There’s a percentage of clean vs. messy houses. Some tidy up after themselves, and then there are people that are slobs.

You might have an extra hours worth of work over at the slobs’ house. So the bidding variables determine the price.

Homeowners – This Is for You

Now I will share a secret with you.

If you keep your house maintained, and clean before the house cleaning lady comes, the price of house cleaning will be lower for you.

Pick up the clothes, put the dishes in the dishwasher, and throw your garbage away.

Take your garbage out to the curb on garbage day.

So when you hire a maid, they can do all the other stuff you don’t do. They can dust your blinds, clean your lampshades and ceiling fans. And they can dust your baseboards, vacuum, sweep and mop your floors.

They can do the heavy duty stuff like scrubbing out the inside of your bathtub. And cleaning out your toilet, and the floor around your toilet. And some of the stuff that you don’t do on a normal every day to day basis.

Bidding Variables in Your Favor

So if you will pick up after yourself, your price will go down.

Because the house cleaner that’s coming in doesn’t have to charge you for all those extras.

So if you’re looking for savings, you can get that by offering a clean, tidy, well-maintained home.

Here’s What You Don’t Want to Do

Now what you don’t want to do is this. You don’t want to pretend that your house is always neat and tidy by cleaning it up for the bid.

If you do this, and the house cleaner comes and finds a different kind of house, they will be mad. They will have to raise the price on you and it will take them longer.

And then you will be mad because they are giving you a higher price than was in the bid. You tricked them into thinking your house was cleaner than it is on a daily basis.

Be Real

And so if you are a slob, just admit it. Have your house cleaner come over while you are a slob, and have them give you a price, based on slob-ness.

Because that way, they can give you a fair price. They can make an estimation of how much time it’s actually going to take to clean your house.

And that way, at the end, they’re not jacking the rates up on you and they’re not surprised. And they don’t go home angry because now the house is in a different state than it was when they came to bid the job.

Anyway, so those are some of the bidding variables. And I hope that helps in making a decision about hiring your next house cleaner.

Anyway, that’s my two cents for today. And until we meet again, leave the world a cleaner place than when you found it.

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